Vanillin is one of the world's most important flavor compounds with a global market of 180 million dollars. Natural vanillin is derived from the cured seed pods of the vanilla orchid (Vanilla planifolia), but most of the world's vanillin is synthesized from petrochemicals or wood pulp lignins. Production of natural vanillin from the vanilla pod is a laborious and slow process, which requires hand pollination of the flowers and a 1-6 month curing process of the harvested green vanilla pods (Ramachandra & Ravishankar (2000) J. Sci. Food Agric. 80:289-304). Production of 1 kilogram (kg) of vanillin requires approximately 500 kg of vanilla pods, corresponding to pollination of approximately 40,000 flowers. Today only about 0.25% (40 tons out of 16,000) of vanillin sold annually originates from vanilla pods, while most of the remainder is synthesized chemically from lignin or fossil hydrocarbons, in particular guaiacol. Synthetically produced vanillin is sold for approximately $15 per kg, compared to prices of $1200-4000 per kg for natural vanillin (Walton, et al. (2003) Phytochemistry 63:505-515).